Last month, Melbourne, Australia's Cut Copy announced they would be releasing their fourth album, Free Your Mind, by inconveniently placing billboards around the world. The album, due November 5 via through Loma Vista/Modular People, was produced by frontman Dan Whitford and mixed by Dave Fridmann (Flaming Lips, Tame Impala), and like every release by Cut Copy, contains a strong dance influence different from its predecessor.
Speaking to Exclaim!, Whitford says the band were inspired deeply by the Second Summer of Love and the emergence of rave music, specifically acid house.
"[It was a] weird mash of music that people were playing in Ibiza: Detroit techno, Chicago house, weird European pop music, soul and funk, dub all thrown together," he says. "I liked the inclusiveness of that kind of music. It's quite futuristic in a lot of ways. It felt like something new at the time, but it wasn't about trying to exclude people. It was very diverse, the scenes and people and cultures from different places made that period of music happen. I think that's exciting."
Whitford says he identified with that era and how acid house was such a movement that deeply affected people.
"With our music, I love listening to all sorts of weird stuff and pulling in unlikely combinations of different styles. I found a parallel, a kind of affinity with what happened in the UK around the late '80s and early '90s with acid house."
Free Your Mind is an expansive album that feels like an event unfolding before your ears. When Exclaim! compared it to Primal Scream's timeless classic, Screamadelica, Whitford says he was flattered.
"Screamadelica would probably be in the top 10 or 20 of my favourite records," he says. "It has that immersive quality to it where a track finishes but that's not where the excitement ends. It's an experience, sort of like watching a film than a traditional format for a record. We were conscious of creating a record that had some longevity to it, an experience where you come out of it an hour later having listened to the whole record."
As previously reported, Cut Copy wil embark on an extensive world tour in support of the album. You can see the dates below where you'll also find the recently revealed video for the album's title track.
Tour dates:
10/30 Salt Lake City, UT - The Depot
10/31 Reno, NV - The Knitting Factory
11/01 Portland, OR - Roseland Ballroom
11/02 Oakland, CA - The Fox Theater
11/03 Los Angeles, CA - HARD Day of the Dead
11/06 Tempe, AZ - Marquee
11/07 El Paso, TX - Tricky Falls
11/08 Austin, TX - Fun Fun Fun Fest
11/09 Houston, TX - Warehouse Live
11/10 Tulsa, OK - Cain's Ballroom
11/11 St. Louis, MO - The Pageant
11/13 Madison, WI - The Majestic
11/14 Chicago, IL - The Riviera
11/15 Toronto, ON - Danforth Music Hall
11/16 Boston, MA - House of Blues
11/23 Santiago, Chile - Primavera Fauna
11/26 London, UK - Oval Space
11/28 Luxembourg, Luxembourg - Atelier
11/29 Brussels, Belgium - Beursschowburg
11/30 Paris, France - Trabendo
12/01 Melkweg, Netherlands - Old Room
12/03 Cologne, Germany - Gebaude
12/04 Berlin, Germany - Prince Charles
12/06 Moscow, Russia - Pipl
12/07 Ekaterinburg, Russia - Teleclub
12/08 Nizhniy Novgorod, Russia - Ideal Space Vasya+1
12/10 Stockholm, Sweden - Kagelbanan
12/11 Malmo, Sweden - Kulturbolaget
12/12 Gothenburg, Sweden - Pusterviksteatern
12/13 Copenhagen, Sweden - Vega
Speaking to Exclaim!, Whitford says the band were inspired deeply by the Second Summer of Love and the emergence of rave music, specifically acid house.
"[It was a] weird mash of music that people were playing in Ibiza: Detroit techno, Chicago house, weird European pop music, soul and funk, dub all thrown together," he says. "I liked the inclusiveness of that kind of music. It's quite futuristic in a lot of ways. It felt like something new at the time, but it wasn't about trying to exclude people. It was very diverse, the scenes and people and cultures from different places made that period of music happen. I think that's exciting."
Whitford says he identified with that era and how acid house was such a movement that deeply affected people.
"With our music, I love listening to all sorts of weird stuff and pulling in unlikely combinations of different styles. I found a parallel, a kind of affinity with what happened in the UK around the late '80s and early '90s with acid house."
Free Your Mind is an expansive album that feels like an event unfolding before your ears. When Exclaim! compared it to Primal Scream's timeless classic, Screamadelica, Whitford says he was flattered.
"Screamadelica would probably be in the top 10 or 20 of my favourite records," he says. "It has that immersive quality to it where a track finishes but that's not where the excitement ends. It's an experience, sort of like watching a film than a traditional format for a record. We were conscious of creating a record that had some longevity to it, an experience where you come out of it an hour later having listened to the whole record."
As previously reported, Cut Copy wil embark on an extensive world tour in support of the album. You can see the dates below where you'll also find the recently revealed video for the album's title track.
Tour dates:
10/30 Salt Lake City, UT - The Depot
10/31 Reno, NV - The Knitting Factory
11/01 Portland, OR - Roseland Ballroom
11/02 Oakland, CA - The Fox Theater
11/03 Los Angeles, CA - HARD Day of the Dead
11/06 Tempe, AZ - Marquee
11/07 El Paso, TX - Tricky Falls
11/08 Austin, TX - Fun Fun Fun Fest
11/09 Houston, TX - Warehouse Live
11/10 Tulsa, OK - Cain's Ballroom
11/11 St. Louis, MO - The Pageant
11/13 Madison, WI - The Majestic
11/14 Chicago, IL - The Riviera
11/15 Toronto, ON - Danforth Music Hall
11/16 Boston, MA - House of Blues
11/23 Santiago, Chile - Primavera Fauna
11/26 London, UK - Oval Space
11/28 Luxembourg, Luxembourg - Atelier
11/29 Brussels, Belgium - Beursschowburg
11/30 Paris, France - Trabendo
12/01 Melkweg, Netherlands - Old Room
12/03 Cologne, Germany - Gebaude
12/04 Berlin, Germany - Prince Charles
12/06 Moscow, Russia - Pipl
12/07 Ekaterinburg, Russia - Teleclub
12/08 Nizhniy Novgorod, Russia - Ideal Space Vasya+1
12/10 Stockholm, Sweden - Kagelbanan
12/11 Malmo, Sweden - Kulturbolaget
12/12 Gothenburg, Sweden - Pusterviksteatern
12/13 Copenhagen, Sweden - Vega